Google will close down Fabric, its mobile app development tool, next year, and is encouraging developers using it to move to Firebase, which will include all the features currently in Fabric. Both Firebase and Fabric were originally independent apps that Google bought.

The Fabric blog said that Google has been:

"working hard to bring the best of the Fabric and Firebase platforms together in a thoughtful way with the goal of giving you one central place to build, improve, and grow your apps."

This process has now reached the stage where Fabric developers can begin migrating to Firebase, as the tools and features of Fabric such as the crash reporter Crashlytics are now available in the Firebase console. Fabric features have been improved, according to Google, to capitalize on Firebase’s strengths.

At the same time the announcement was made, a migration roadmap was released showing the future for the two products.

The roadmap starts now, with beginning the move to Firebase. The roadmap says you can start using Crashlytics in Firebase with no SDK changes required, and you can still view all of your Crashlytics data in Fabric. The Crashlytics beta will still work in Fabric, so unconvinced developers can stay in Fabric for the moment. Crashlytics can now be integrated with Cloud Functions for Firebase to trigger workflows and route critical crashes to developers for analysis and correction. You can also export raw data for deeper analysis by connecting Firebase Crashlytics with BigQuery. Google has also 'evolved' Digits into Firebase phone authentication so the user authentication will continue to work.

By early next year, it will be possible to use Firebase App Distribution for analysis of pre-release Android and iOS apps. This is actually an updated and renamed version of Crashlytics Beta. By mid 2019 Fabric will be closed down.

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